"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"

Super Moon - ooh!

One clear evening last month, my son, Phil, and I were louging about in his gorgeous flat overlooking the Tyne Estuary - and just before 8pm, we spotted the most beautiful moon, bouncing in the evening sky.

Next day, I read on the internet about this phenomenal Super Moon.
" Saturday's event was a 'supermoon,' the closest and therefore the biggest and brightest full moon of the year," said USA today.

This was a stunning moon - better than I've ever seen before: so close, I felt I could almost reach out through Phil's window and touch it.

Sheila's Super Blackbirds

The lovey-dovey couple of blackbirds that frequent our garden are getting tamer and tamer.  Their favourite 'nosh' is cat food from a glass bowl on our lawn.  Dave is going to make them a bird table so that my heart's not all a'flutter when the cats are out.  But the cats both seem to understand that these two lovely blackbirds are our friends.  And they just sit and look at them, unperturbed.  My heart's STILL in my mouth though!!

Super Gorgeous Pets

Babs' Beautiful  'Fizz'

Two of my e-mailing friends, Babs and Maggie, from way back when we were all at Whitehaven Grammar School together sent me pix of their pets at my request.

Because they're so gorgeous, I thought they deserved to be featured on my blog alongside my two gorgeous cats.

Misty's Behind!

Maggie's Marvellous 'Misty'

  

Sheila's 'Fragile' girl, 'Rosie!

Sheila's Silly-Billy Boy, 'Mr Jim'

Super Splendid Garden

Well, our brand new fence is well and truly open - to blackbirds and magpies and pigeons, bluetits and dunnocks.  In other words, the fence is already covered in bird-shit!!  I've cleaned it off time and again!

 But oh - what a beautiful fence it is.  There are varieties of clematis and honeysuckle, winter and summer jasmine growing up it - some new, some existing.  It's going to look great once the climbers have established or re-established themselves.

 One of our lilacs this year has been chock-a-block full of 'mile-a-minute' pretty pink clematis.

The camelia is losing its blooms at a rate of knots, like it does every year in May.

The peiris is looking fabulous, the white flowers mostly gone now - but it's still full of red and green leaves - a real show-stopper.

The spirea has almost come to its blossoming end - but I took a photo when it was in full bloom - beautiful!


All my tubs and baskets are full to the brim on the patio now.  They'll be a splendid sight in a few weeks when everything spreads and flowers. Watch out for my next blog post!

 Super-Duper BEN HUR Bike Rally 

 What a great night out the 'Ben Hur' Biker Rally on 6th May.  This is an annual full week-end event just outside Lanchester village in County Durham.  It was my first time at the rally - an outdoor camping affair for bikers all over the North of England, with stalls and a big marquee with a bar and a stage where live bands play.

I put on my wellies and my kagool as well as my 'Boneshakers' T-Shirt and we motored up there in driving rain and thick black cloud.  And when we got there, it was like a mud bath!

"Oh dear," I thought.  But, you know, the biker crowd were so cheerful and uplifted that it didn't matter that I was up to the elbows in mud: it didn't matter that the rain was dripping down the back of my neck like a waterfall.  It was such a great laugh.  Bikers galore turned up in Ben Hur helmets, or silly wigs, or kilts!!!

And, of course (the main reason I was there) was that the Boneshakers were opening up the entertainment in the big tent.  They were fantastic.  And they've been asked back next year as the headline band.

I've probably told you before that my husband, Dave, plays bass with the Boneshakers.  But I don't think I'm biased!

Super Sensational Wooden Doll Gigs

Last Sunday and the Sunday before, both of Dave's bands were playing at the Wooden Doll pub overlooking the Tyne River in North Shields.  Both nights were nights to remember: both nights, local musicians dropped in to jam with - or simply applaud - these two sensational bands.
 


 The Gatecrashers (a soul/funk/rock band) played the first Sunday night, amazing their audience and setting the already warm night to a red hot atmosphere.

NICK

Nick, Ant, Dave and Doug are superlative musicians with talent enough to burst the thermometers of any and every gig they play.
You can book them for your party or function anywhere in the North of England.

DOUG

ANT

DAVE

Here's their website:

http://www.thegatecrashersband.co.uk

Sheila and Nina at the 'Crashers Gig

 

 

On the second Sunday evening, the Boneshakers came out to play - and they were amazing too.

You can read all about the gig on the blog I pen for them.  It's called 'Rocking with the Boneshakers' and it's well worth a visit to the site.  You might even want to join their band of followers here and get all the latest about the band.  Here's the link:

http://rockinwiththeboneshakers.blogspot.com

WRITE ON: 

Maybe this last month or so haven't been the best in winning anything - in fact I've been rejected a few times lately - "c'est la vie" for a writer, they say.  Ah, but I do hate rejection!!  I'll never get used to it.  My prized possessions knocked back by some editor is hard to take!  How very vain of me - I must STOP this at once,constant readers : it won't wash!

Writing Groups
It has been a great time these past few weeks, for writing groups.  The North East Adult Learning Alliance Creative Writing Group has just completed its five-week course and I've enjoyed getting back in among the great and lovely members/writers that attend there.  Our course leader, Julie Taylor, is second to none.

One of the members, Charles (great bloke - great writer) invited me along to a self-managed group of writers who call themselves 'SCRIBBLERS'.  I've been along twice - and what a grand group they are.  I've been having a ball and writing lots of new stuff.

One of the pieces I wrote for the groups has been sent off to the WOW Women on Writing Competition - I've been shortlisted with them twice - so maybe this time ... and I've entered the Adult Alliance competition with another piece too.  Fingers crossed, eh, constant readers?

Writers Writing About ME!!

Over the last month, two really excellent online writers that I follow, both poets, both brilliant article writers, have asked to do interviews with me about my writing.  I said "Yes" of course!  I was delighted.  

Vinaya Ghimire published this piece:

Sheila Newton: Poet, Story Teller and the Travel Writer

http://writing.wikinut.com/Sheila-Newton%3A-Poet%2C-Storyteller-and-the-Travel-Writer/2-8jxjjl/  

... and 'PHILLYDREAMER' published this piece:

The World of Undiscovered Poets: Sheila Newton

http://phillydreamer.hubpages.com/hub/The-World-of-Undiscovered-Poets-Sheila-Newton

Thank you both - I'm really touched that you would want to write about little ol' ME! 

Online writing

My online writing has been doing pretty well.  So that's a good thing.  Here's one I hope you might like:

Bubble-Wrapped

http://authspot.com/poetry/bubble-wrapped/

  

Camp NaNoWriMo

This June, Camp NaNoWriMo is underway, giving the disorganised (like me!) some structure for writing 50,000 words of a novel.  

I completed the challenge last November, but sadly, I didn't get to the end of the novel: nor did I edit the chapters I had written.  So, here

goes again. Think I'll reach the finishing line?  Let's see shall we ... 

Thanks for viewing my blog, constant readers

"...and if you say it loud enough, you'll always

sound precocious...

supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!

SEE YOU ALL NEXT TIME -

AND BY THEN, I MAY HAVE FINISHED MY NOVEL

ONCE AND FOR ALL!